Why so long at the fair?

The ATC tent right in the middle of things.

I attended the 8th annual Denver County Fair. Plans for such a fair reach back to the mid-19th century but were interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil War. Finally in the early 21st century the idea was picked up by some enterprising folk, many of whom were artists. The competitions in food, horticulture, urban farming, urban livestock, community action, popular culture, family activities, carnival rides, and fried foods continue. So still blue, red and white ribbons are given for art, crafts, speeches, cooking, baking, and spelling bees, just to name a few categories, prevail. Cats have their own pavilion! I saw turkeys and chickens, ducks and doves. Pigs were showing off their abilities to receive and carry out tasks to the great amusement of a crowd. This year featured a roller derby and much more. One woman who has been involved in the art part of the fair said, “It will be a real county fair as soon as they get drag races. Still, she enjoyed the Drag Show—an urban touch.

Multi Panel ATC made at the Fair, 2018

I was there at the Artist Trading Cards tent where adults and kids could make and trade art cards. It’s a messy experience since glue is available to children. It seems squeezing overly generous amounts of glue in the messiest way is tolerated by parents. I cleaned up after quite a few such parents.

But I also saw the creation of many wonderful cards. Plus we volunteers made contact with a number of adults who might join in one of the Denver ATC groups. This last is our main goal.




And, of course, there was a lot of laughter, conversations with all sorts of people, good coffee, good ice cream, and so much more.

I didn’t stay too long at the fair, yet two long days will satisfy me for a year.

Pizza Rain, ATC, Phillip Hoyle 2018